Sith Teachings

The teachings of the Sith are a pathway to great power through the Dark Side of the Force. While the Sith Lord risks much, he or she also gains access to tremendous supernatural abilities.

Unfettered by reserve and utterly committed to power, the wisdom of the Sith is at times egocentric, fascist, deterministic, and occasionally paradoxical, especially in regard to love and passion.

This page collects Sith teachings from canonical Star Wars sources, and may grow over time through user or editor contributions.

Suffering Brings Strength

"Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hatred leads to suffering...but what the Jedi failed to teach you, what I have learned, is how to persevere, to pass through the suffering, and achieve ultimate power!"

-Count Dooku, Star Wars: Dark Disciple

Physical and emotional anguish are gateways to power. The Jedi are partially correct in their analysis of the Force, but their understanding is incomplete, for suffering is a crucible of strength.

Order is Supreme

"Yoda had once told him that fear led to hate and hate led to suffering. But Yoda had been wrong. Fear was a tool used by the strong to cow the weak. Hate was the font of true strength. Suffering was not the result of the rule of the strong over the weak, order was. By its very existence, the Force mandated the rule of the strong over the weak; the Force mandated order."

-Pondering of Darth Vader, Star Wars: Lords of the Sith

Order is the product of power. Fear, hate, and suffering, properly channeled, lead to perfect order unmarred by freedom or disharmony.

"Vader and his Master imposed order the only way it could be imposed, through conquest, by forcing the disorder to submit to the order, by bending the weak to the will of the strong."

-Pondering of Darth Vader, Star Wars: Lords of the Sith

Order must be forced on the disorderly. The powerful should rule over the helpless so that Order might be created through tyranny.

The Rule of Two

"The Sith killed each other, victims of their own greed. But from the ashes of destruction I was the last survivor. I chose to pass my knowledge on to only one. I created a legacy so resilient that now you come before me."

-Darth Bane, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

As Yoda observed, only two Sith may exist at one time. One Master teaches, one apprentice serves.

Ascendancy of a New Master

"Have you come to be my apprentice? You must kill me to gain my place."

-Darth Bane, Star Wars: The Clone Wars

To become a true Master, a Sith Lord must slay his tutor, turning against his teacher and seizing his legacy and mantle of power. Almost all Sith relationships are doomed to violence.

Strength and Loyalty

"Soon after destroying the Jedi, the Emperor had told Vader that he would one day be tempted to kill him. He said that the relationship between Sith apprentice and Master was symbiotic but in a delicate balance. An apprentice owed his Master loyalty. A Master owed his apprentice knowledge and must show only strength. But the obligations were reciprocal and contingent. Should either fail in his obligation, it was the duty of the other to destroy him. The Force required it."

-Teaching of Darth Sidious, Star Wars: Lords of the Sith

A Sith recognizes strength almost to the point of worship. Master and student must both show unflinching strength, drawing on the raw power of the Dark Side, manipulating, daunting, and controlling all around them.

Treachery

"Treachery never goes unpunished."

-The Emperor, Star Wars, Lords of the Sith

After the successful rebel attack on the Star Destroyer Perilous, Darth Sidious observes that all who betray will be punished. His words echo a deeper meaning later in the story, when he notes that that Vader's rise to power was accomplished by treason to those he knew best. A Sith Lord demands absolute loyalty, but the Rule of Two demands a constant awareness of inevitable betrayal.

"And yet we can't know the thoughts of another, especially those of a traitor, who guards his thoughts closely so as not to reveal his treachery. And so we must draw out the thoughts to have them manifest in deeds, and this reveal the truth."

-The Emperor, Star Wars, Lords of the Sith

Even a Sith cannot read all minds. To detect treachery, traps must be set. Every action by a Sith Lord is a potential test of allegiance.

Fear Is Intrinsic

"All who gain power are afraid to lose it."

-Darth Sidious, Revenge of the Sith

Jedi and Sith alike fear the loss of power, but the Sith choose to harness that fear as a source of strength.

The Necessity of Testing

"We are, all of us, always being tested, my friend. Tests make us stronger, and strength is power, and power is the point. We must pass all the tests we face...or die in the effort."

-The Emperor, Star Wars, Lords of the Sith

The Sith must seek out testing to hone his strength, growing in power with each challenge, proving his commitment to power to himself, his master, or his apprentice.

Unfettered Curiosity

"If one is to understand the great mystery one must study all its aspects...If you are to become a complete and wise leader you must embrace a larger view of the Force."

-The Emperor, Revenge of the Sith

The Dark Side demands unfettered curiosity. Knowledge should be craved, sought, and seized, including knowledge that will tempt the enlightened to murderous and horrible acts.

Passion and Evil

"She stared up at Vader, unafraid. 'I hate you and everything you stand for,' she said. 'But when I murdered, I murdered out of love.' Vader raised his blade, his breathing loud and steady. When he spoke, his voice was as deep and hollow as a funeral gong. 'I know precisely what you mean,' he said, and slashed."

-Star Wars: Lords of the Sith

The Sith recognizes the connection between love and suffering, the power that vulnerability holds over the heart, and the nature of revenge, anger, and bitterness inherent to close relationships.

Similarity to the Jedi

"The Sith and the Jedi are similar in almost every way, including their quest for greater power."

-Darth Sidious, Revenge of the Sith

The Sith recognize their mutual connection to the Force with the Jedi, and view the Jedi's reserve with scorn and cynicism.

Anger Over Peace

"Without the neural connection to his armor, he was conscious of the stumps of his legs, the ruin of his arms, the perpetual pain in his flesh. He welcomed it. Pain fed his hate, and hate fed his strength. Once, as a Jedi, he had meditated to find peace. Now he meditated to sharpen the edges of his anger."

-Pondering of Darth Vader, Star Wars, Lords of the Sith

The quicker, easier, and more seductive power of the Dark Side is drawn from anger. A Sith feeds on his rage, culturing it with constant meditation on loathing, pain, injury, injustice, and desire.

Suffering Teaches Wisdom

"His injuries had deformed his body, left it broken, but they'd perfected his spirit, strengthening his connection to the Force. Suffering had birthed insight."

-Pondering of Darth Vader, Star Wars, Lords of the Sith

In pain and loss, a Dark Jedi who gives in to anger and hate gain strength.

Unnatural Power

"The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural."

-Darth Sidious, Revenge of the Sith

The powers of the Dark Side are strange. The Sith embrace abilities too terrible for the Jedi to even consider.